The economic boom that World War II (1939–45) started in America offered disposable income to more people than ever. With more people working, wages more than twice the norm of the previous decade, and businesses producing more and more consumer products, Americans began living differently. By the end of the war, instead of laboring over their Depression-era (1929–41) or wartime gardens, families in the newly developed suburbs could afford to buy more processed food and to eat out more often.

Breakfast or a coffee break could be satisfied at bakeries, including the Dunkin' Donuts franchises. For a quick meal, workers on a lunch break or families tired of doing their own dishes could frequent restaurants such as Stuckey's and McDonald's, which sprang up in towns across the country. Pizza became an especially popular dish, and mom-and-pop pizzerias with their typical red-and-white-checkered tablecloths soon became familiar in...